NaturalFeel: Dark

Tadaaa, here's the center of the first quilt top finished...

It'll be fun to quilt in the large background areas!

Layout time

When you have 4 of everything and many of one thing (i.e. the beige filler squares, since I didn't have enough light-coloured charms for all the 9 patches), layout is always fun. 

I do try not to have the same pattern next to each other, and to get a bit of balance. I find taking a photo and looking at that helps to get an overview...

Now cut the rest of the brown background squares and rectangles and I'm good to go...

NaturalFeel Babyquilts

Those baby quilts I mentioned the other day will be following this single Irish chain pattern and will be hand-quilted just as this quilt from a few years ago:

I felt like using natural colours and picked some left-over charms. Can't remember the name of the pattern, MODA something :)

There'll be a dark version (brown background with beige chain) and a light version (beige background with dark brown/green/orange chain).

It'll be lovely to be working by hand on a small quilt again; I'm really quite looking forward to the handquilting! My finger tips have gotten awfully soft :-)

Something is happening...

... a little bit of quilting!

Do you know how -- as soon as you don't have something any more -- you want to use it? Well, I've loaned my sewing machine to a friend who wants to fix her curtains. So of course, now I have the urge to quilt.

In the absence of my machine, I sorted through patterns and fabrics (especially my charms collection) and prepared the pieces for a couple of baby quilts.

More to follow on these later...

And the Warm and Fuzzy quilt I posted about last --- well, it was missing 2 corners. Yes, I just had to cut 2 triangles and couldn't get myself motivated... until now!

So as soon as my machine is back, this quilt top will be finished, and the 2 baby quilts will be assembled!

Warmer and Fuzzier

Here's an update on my Warm and Fuzzy Quilt project, which has been in the making for eternity (it feels like).

Originally, I wanted to alternate burgundy log cabin blocks with green log cabin blocks...

... but when I had the burgundy ones finished, I was (1) tired of making these blocks and (2) found the mix too colourful. I played around with different ideas and in the end decided to keep the whole thing burgundy.

Putting the blocks on point somehow made the whole design more dynamic:

I made a couple more blocks (I needed 12 instead of 10 now) and calculated the size blocks I needed for the solid diamonds and triangles.

Once it was sewn together, I really liked it! Now I'll think of a spiffy border and put the thing together!

I still need 2 small triangles for the last 2 corners. Right now the quilt measures around 60"x80".

It's good to be quilting again!

Julia's Quilt Finito!

Okay, in the interest of ease and time, I stippled this quilt with rather big loops. My machine is quite slow on the different voltage in Europe. Maybe it's the adapter I use, but I haven't looked into a different model yet. I also bought a machine here that I use for piecing (I'd go mad piecing at the speed of my old Singer from Canada), but I haven't bought any attachments for free-motion quilting.

Amazingly, no problem quilting or putting on the binding, and ah! it was so pieceful and quiet to sew down the binding on the front...

Here's the finished product, delivered on schedule to my grandmother's:

Measures about 55 x 78 inches.

Putting the Pins in Julia's Quilt

You know, when you're used to basting on smooth floor, using tape instead of pinning a quilt to a carpet, it makes such a difference to live in a place with laminate flooring again (after a few months in a place with carpet).  Big sigh of relief!

I ruined my nails during pin-basting, as usual :) They were quite long, admittedly.  Apart from the tape getting old and coming off the floor over night, the basting went quite well.  What a refresher quilt this is!

I finally got to hear that great sound of hundreds of safty pins clicking on the floor when I shook out the quilt in the end :) Music in my ears.

And now it's ready for binding, one of my favourite steps!